


Not just science.

by RainsDownInAfrica



Category: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Extended Universe, Martian Manhunter (Comics), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Spoilers, M/M, Post-Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Supermartian, Written Pre-Justice League (2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24264484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainsDownInAfrica/pseuds/RainsDownInAfrica
Summary: Superman is dead, Carol Ferris and Secretary Swanwick are facing the consequences, but it reveals to Carol a hidden truth about her boss...
Relationships: J'onn J'onzz & Clark Kent, J'onn J'onzz/Clark Kent
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Not just science.

**Author's Note:**

> According to Zack Snyder, Calvin Swanwick was non-other than everybody's favorite martian, J'onn J'onzz, so...  
> This sets up after the end of BvS, when the Martian Manhunter disguised as Defense Secretary Calvin Swanwick has to deal with the death of the only person in the world that could truly understand him.  
> The references from the movies: Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman.   
> This is my first work here, so feel free to let me know anything improvable or less.

Carol Ferris was a passionate Soldier, probably the best one the National Army possessed, or she would have not been chosen by the Martian Manhunter himself otherwise. Even if she didn't know the true identity of the Man who she had been looking up as a father for the latest years: Calvin Swanwick. Year after year, Calvin taught her everything. How to shoot, discipline, he had protected her multiple times - sometimes in ways than she could not understand - she had been close to him every day, and yet, there were a lot of things about him that still were a mystery for her. The absence of a wife, or not even the attempt to find one, despite the many women - of the army or not - she saw approaching him with her own eyes. She once even saw him refusing a date just because the lady was a smoker. Whenever she tried to ask him about it she always received the same reply from the General, over and over.  


''This is neither the time nor the place to discuss it.''

It was never the time or the place. He used that excuse even when they were in the middle of the desert, waiting for the backups to arrive in likely two or three hours. After some time, she just figured out that Relationships weren't his area, and she was of course pretty cool with that. Things changed and took a completely different direction when Superman revealed himself to the world. In the beginning, it seemed Calvin didn't like the alien very much. He just never commented anything about him, his face whenever he was on screen? He didn't even look at the screen, faking of reading a journal. When finally the General and Superman met before he would go to face Zod, she clearly felt the sparkle once the Kryptonian raised from his chair to approach the glass behind Calvin was lying but not hiding, unlike anybody else in the room. When they met for the second time, she finally got to see Superman from close range. That hair, jet black with a natural curl in the front, and his blue eyes, deep as the ocean itself. What a nobile physique, what a... Hot man. Super-man. He was a true daydream, but according to her general he was just a crazy guy ''effin' stupid'' since the Super had just destroyed a government's drone. Carol heard the Kryptonian saying that he had to ''trust'' the general about a life-importance matter, and that astonished her. Was Superman really that good? Did he really have that kind of faith in mankind to trust a man could convince the entire government to let him act as he wanted? She herself didn't have any clue of how her boss was going to fix a situation like that with the government.  
However, once Superman left, she could've not held that anymore and admitted how hot he was, receiving an approval smile from the General that she would have never forgotten.  
There was this thing about General Swanwick: he never smiled. Never. Until Superman came into the mix. There, she understood many things and received all the answers she had been looking for.  
No, probably just Girlfriends weren't his area.

\---- One Year Later ----

The sky over Washington, DC, was crying out loud for the loss of Earth's greatest hero. During the battle against a monster called Doomsday, in fact, Superman had sacrificed himself to save everybody. The Daily Planet opened that day with the tile: ''No more hope''. Carol knew something with Calvin was going to be off that day, the very moment she woke up that morning. The raven-haired woman reached for his workplace like every single morning, her suit perfect as always, not even a wrinkle, all was in order. There was only one difference with the other days: the other coffee cup she had in her hands as she entered the newly promoted Secretary Swanwick's office. They were really close but Carol wasn't one to bring her boss the breakfast in the morning. She was a Soldier, after all, not his secretary. And Calvin never asked her to do it.  
As she expected, she found him sat on his chair, looking at the city through the window. His face expression was lost, completely off, she could clearly tell that he had lost more than just a ''government asset''. The woman didn't even care to announce herself and just placed the coffee over his desk, but didn't leave his office. The more he looked at him, and the more the Secretary seemed to not even notice her presence, and the more she noted the absence of light in his eyes. From his perspective, the world didn't seem to make sense anymore without Clark.  
Superman was his Hope. His light through the darkness. The man who saved him from solitude with just a phrase accompanied by a smile. Probably the only true love of his life on Earth.  
He watched him dying and did nothing. Because there was no room for the Martian Manhunter. He had to be Calvin Swanwick. Only General Swanwick. A 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 told him to stand back, to not fight Doomsday.  
And so, he abandoned Clark.  
Like he did with M'yri'ah, back on Mars.  
That thought accompanied J'onn's every moment since then, neither his right-hand, the skilled, and sunny general Carol Ferris seemed to could do nothing to cheer him up.

''It wasn't your fault, Sir, there was nothing we could do.''

Once again, Carol didn't obtain any reply. She didn't know the truth, and he couldn't tell her. He couldn't tell her that he had all those powers, and he was 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 to save the person he loved the most.  
The guilt and the shame of the survivor, he had to endure that unbearable pain all over again. What there was room for, after Superman's sacrifice? Surely not for Hope. Not for love. Not for compassion. Not for acceptance. That sense of solitude and being alone in the universe, it just came back stronger than ever. Once again, 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞. He found himself praying at night, that somehow his soulmate would come back to him. That guy from Kansas who changed his life forever the very moment they met. The first one to see his true form and still shook his hand, holding it, like that green alien was the nicest person he’d ever know. The only one able to see past his apparently harsh behavior. Superman was not only a symbol of hope, love, and compassion, he was also the person who reminded J’onn what Love truly was. It had been a while since M’yri’ah, the first woman he loved. And also the 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭. J’onn based his expectations in love on that magical chemistry that bond people forever all of his long life, just to discover on Earth that according to someone: ‘’Love is a matter of science’’’, but every time Clark was around him, every time he touched him, talked to him, 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 him, accepted him, smiled at him, his heart skipped a beat. No, it could not be just 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Seeing tears streaming down Swanwick's face, Carol felt the sudden instinct of placing her hand over his. the man looked down to the hands, now entwined, and nodded twice. He did lose Superman but he still had something to fight for. Unlike on Mars, he was not alone. That was more than he could hope for during those hard times.


End file.
